I feel very free, actually. For years, and I mean years, the fact that I was not comfortable in certain social situations really bothered me. I didn’t enjoy certain activities that other people so easily seemed to enjoy and that made me feel really, really bad. Like a total outcast.

A weirdo.

A freak. [Cue the violins]

But now, I am looking at my personality in a whole new light. Because you know what? The world needs some quiet people. It does. We have gifts and strengths that this world could desperately use.

No, it’s never okay to totally isolate yourself from people. People need people. I need people. (Boy, have I learned that!) But, and this is a big but, it is *totally* okay to not have to be surrounded by people all the time or be busy, busy, busy if the busyness is strictly socially centered. I know people like that. That is not me. I am quiet and I draw my strength from being alone a lot of the time.

And actually, because I have made soooo much progress in the last few years, I can operate as an extrovert with the best of them. But in my heart, a quiet, solitary place is where home will always be for me. I need that often.

PS. Just because I’m an introvert doesn’t mean I don’t care about people. I care deeply about people. The ones I know (my family, my friends), and the ones I don’t know (like people who are suffering everywhere like this Sudanese woman.). You have no idea the burdens that I quietly carry for others. So don’t ever judge an introvert by their cover. There’s a lot going on in them under the surface.

OKAY NOW! LET’S JUST CHANGE THE SUBJECT AND TALK ABOUT THESE AWESOME TURKEY BURGERS!!!!

(Transitioning from one subject to another was never my strong point.)

This is a recipe makeover of one of my favorite, easy, go-to meals, Mushroom Burgers in Gravy which is basically beef burgers with an envelope or two of French onion soup mix thrown in, swimming in a couple of cans of cream of mushroom soup acting as gravy. I know. Not too healthy, right? So I decided to give that recipe a little makeover using some healthier ingredients and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way it turned out and so did my family! And more importantly, so did my four year old grandson. Tore. it. up. [GRANNY FIST PUMP]

I switched the beef to turkey, grated in some onion (very important because it yields lots of onion juice!), added chopped fresh parsley for flavor, and used REAL mushrooms for the gravy. Read my notes below for some tips and go make this for your family soon. It’s really quite easy. (And look at how NOT big the calorie count is!!! Whoop!)

My notes: –I used fresh Italian flat leaf parsley which I highly recommend, but you could use dried parsley flakes.

–This made a big batch because I wanted to have a lot of leftovers, but you could easily half this recipe for a smaller batch.

–I divided the meat into 10 patties, but you could go smaller or bigger with your patties. My patties were a very decent size. One was enough for the women, two were enough for the men. More than enough.

–I used fresh sliced mushrooms, then coarsely chopped them because large chunks of mushrooms in my mouth make me feel scared and weird sometimes. But you could leave them sliced if you want them bigger.

–Why does ground turkey always seem to come in only 1 1/4 pound containers? I have never seen just a pound of turkey. This is odd to me since they sell just one puns of ground beef all the time.

–I served mine over brown rice, but regular rice, quinoa, egg noodles, or mashed potatoes would be great too.

Place the ground the turkey, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, ¼ cup parsley, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Grate in half of the onion with juice. Mix with hands until mixture is combined, then shape into 10 patties.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry patties until golden brown on each side in batches being careful not to overcrowd the pan. They will not be done on the inside--this is okay. Set patties aside on a plate.

Coarsely chop the mushrooms and chop the remaining half of the onion.

Add the butter to the pan over medium heat until melted. Add the mushrooms and onion and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes, stirring several times. Sprinkle with the flour and stir to evenly coat, then cook for one minute. Add the beef broth and Worcestershire sauce and whisk, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom. Cook until gravy thickens. Add the patties back into the gravy, cover with a lid, and cook in the sauce until burgers are firm and done, about 15 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley for serving.

Notes

*Nutritional value was analyzed at www.myfitnesspal.com using my brands or brands in their database that were similar. Nutritional value can vary widely depending on the brand, so for the most accurate values, go to their website and use their analyzer with your brands.

Comments

Great story. I’m an introvert also and have the same opinions and emotions about it as you wrote about. I found your site via a Google search on ground turkey gravy. Beautiful pics. P.S. I love to cook and have been on many many many foodie sites, however yours is the first that I have ever commented on.